Sambandha: The Relationship with Lord Krsna

October 11, 2008

This is another important article from Sacinandana Swami's site which made me feel very enthused to apply to Japa: " Let us think about our relationship with Krishna. Sambandha is the joining of the Lord and jiva-atma. How can we put Krishna in our spiritual practices? What does it mean, for instance, to put Krishna in kirtan? What does it mean to put Krishna into japa?

If you want to put Krishna into your chanting, you need to give Krishna one gift. It is your full attention. In the Shrimad Bhagavatam it is said: "Therefore, with single-minded concentration the devotee should chant My name, the devotee should hear about Me." Thus, we should think affectionately of the meaning of the mantra: "O my Lord, please engage me in your service."

When you do kirtan you must really enter the chanting of the holy name, otherwise you are left with only the banging of metal and vibrating of leather and clay. You must learn to give your attention to Krishna while you do this or any other service that you do for Krishna.

There is a very important meditation that Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura gives in a commentary on the Srimad Bhagavatam. You must think: "O my dear Lord I brought this thing to You. Please accept." Prabhupada gave one lecture about offering food to Krishna and he said: "My dear Lord, I brought this thing for You. Please accept this." Prabhupada was crying. This is how you can invite Krishna into your desertlike material life. You must give attention when you do your japa and you must do service in a conscious way. " My dear Lord, I am so insignificant. I brought this other insignificant thing for you. Please accept it. " This is the meaning of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra.

Developing this relationship to Krishna is an ongoing challenge that one must think about every day of one´s life. This sambandha is not just made when we join the movement and do prescribed activities. Sambandha is something that we have to think about every day, in each of our spiritual practices. Only then are we Krishna conscious. In order to develop sambandha with Krishna, one must leave kama (lust) and dambha (pride). There is one very important instruction in the Kena Upanisad. "

If you want to read the other part of this article which is an amazing topic please go to:http://www.saranagati.net/index.php?S=3 & Article=407 & mpage=1

Hare Krsna-- We must trust the Supreme Personality of Godhead that whatever He plans for us is best. Due to our material attachments it is sometimes incomprehensible to us why He acts in certain ways. But from the revealed scriptures and great saintly teachers we learn that the Lord is acting perfectly for our highest self interest at every minute. Even though we have forgotten Him, He still takes us as His dearmost children and always is always lovingly making all arrangement to induce us to resume a life of devotion to Him so that we will become qualified to return to our original home in the spiritual world.

Chant:Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare HareHare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare